


The Unbeliever

by Leni



Series: All About Lacey [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 17:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9773495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: There are things Lacey doesn't understand about her lover.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I'm in love with you."

Rumpelstiltskin was only mildly surprised to open his front door and find Lacey already inside. He had never asked back for her set of keys to his house, half expecting to run into this very scene at some point.

One of the things Belle and Lacey had in common was that they were incapable of leaving an argument without having the last word.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said as nonchalantly as he dared, acting as if he'd never found the closet in the master bedroom divested of her belongings, or had needed to make a few extremely uncomfortable calls to find out that the apartment above the library was being used again. "You don't mind if we call for take-out tonight, I hope? Something tells me that soon I won't be in the mood to cook."

Lacey narrowed her eyes. "I'm not staying that long, Gold."

Rumpelstiltskin masked his disappointment with a shrug. "Pity," he said as he closed the door behind him. "I'm calling for Ping's noodle soup. You sure you couldn't stay for that?"

Lacey glared as if he'd offered some vile poison instead of one of her favorite choices.

Rumpelstiltskin raised an eyebrow, honestly puzzled. Lacey had always enjoyed answering the door, a sly smile on her lips as she tugged down her already daring necklines, and flirting with the good-humored yet easily flustered delivery boy.

Rumpelstiltskin would give her an indulgent kiss when she tottered back, bags in hand and eyes dancing with mischief, and made sure to add a hefty tip. Being Lacey's target was not for the soft-hearted, but Rumpelstiltskin liked that Ping's son took it with awkward laughs and mumbled compliments, edging away when Lacey made to grab his heavily muscled arms but giving her a good-natured wave as he left.

The friendly interaction put Lacey in a good mood.

It seemed fair that in exchange they would put the boy through college.

"He's like an overgrown cub," Lacey had told him once. "Big and strong, yet adorably harmless."

Rumpelstiltskin had pulled her onto his lap, giving her a quick kiss at the juncture between neck and shoulder before dragging his teeth to her earlobe to mutter, "Play with your cub, sweetheart. I don't mind."

"Not jealous then?"

He had grabbed onto her hips, jerking her down to press harder against his body. "Does that feel like jealousy?"

She had laughed, turning to kiss him, and Rumpelstiltskin had known that if he dipped a hand beneath her skirt, she would be soaking wet already. Because she may derive some amusement from teasing the innocent, but as whichever version of herself, she was attracted by the man with the power to ruin lives who nonetheless yielded to her whims. 

Now there was no laughter, but he still motioned for her to sit down.

Lacey shook her head. "I just came to tell you one thing," she told him, eyes narrowed as if she blamed him for everything that had gone wrong in her life.

He was at a loss as for a reason.

Since she'd gone on her own, there had been a quiet set of eyes following her activities. Nothing noteworthy had been reported in the last two weeks. Her nights at the Rabbit Hole had been unremarkable, and her days were spent either nursing a hangover or in the one decent boutique in town, draining on his credit card with expensive outfits that he wouldn't have denied her anyway.

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't think of anything that would have displeased Lacey, but he waited for the barrage of accusations anyway.

Lacey made a noise of frustration. Then she threw her hands in the air and set off, her heels clicking as she paced from their side of the living room to the other and back again.

He stayed on his feet as well, facing her. "I'm listening."

"You're impossible," she started. "You're the most powerful man in this stupid town, and there are people who cringe - they literally _cringe_ \- when I mention you. Never mind all those who set off running if I call you by that other name."

Early on, Lacey had established that she was not calling the man she was taking to bed by the ridiculous name of an imp known in this world for his sound defeat.

Centuries-old emotional baggage, the hope she would return to her original self, and a grown son older than herself; Lacey could tolerate. 

The distortion of his tale in this world, not at all.

She would only call him by his true name at the height of passion, when there was no denying he was more than a small-town pawnbroker and that she had claim on all of him.

"I got a reputation," Rumpelstiltskin answered. "You knew that."

"They believe you're selfish and cruel. That you could destroy them if it struck your whim."

"So they're not complete idiots."

Her eyes narrowed. "Even your son won't defend you."

That made his heart twist, and he allowed the pain to show into a bitter smile. "He always was a smart boy," he said, trying not to think of the tension between him and Baelfire. His son had thanked him for his part in bringing Henry back from Neverland, but made clear that he couldn't trust the man who slept with a woman who couldn't give true consent.

Explaining to him that Lacey was as real as Belle had been, especially since there was no magic to bring Belle back, had been useless so far.

"I ran into him the other night," Lacey told him, then sniggered meanly. "Seems his ex girlfriend can drive him to drink himself under the table. Bit pathetic, really." She ignored his scowl. "Couldn't help greeting him, of course. Closest thing to a stepmom he's got. Felt obliged, really," she said virtuously, as if the two of them weren't aware that her aim had been to jab at his son's wounds in exchange for Baelfire's almost tangible apathy every time they'd crossed ways. Forgiveness wasn't something Lacey did with ease (though when she did, she did it sincerely, so that much at least was still familiar). "And you know, Gold. Your kid told me something interesting..."

"Hm?"

"Said you might finally be recovering your senses, now that I'm out of the picture." She met his eyes, hers alive with banked fury. "That he couldn't trust you while you kept me around? The hell, Gold! You've been begging for scraps of that guy's time for months, and all along you could have tossed me to the side to get it?!"

Rumpelstiltskin frowned, not sure he caught her meaning. "I never said I was 'keeping' you," he tried.

"That's not the point!"

He clamped his mouth shut. Sometimes the smartest path to take was to remain silent and watch events unfold.

Lacey was glaring at him, now stalking closer and driving a finger into his chest. "You're supposed to be this creepily dangerous bastard. You orchestrated a spell so large it brought your entire world across a portal, just to see your son again. You're the damned Dark One, and you aimed all that power to reconcile with your son!"

Rumpelstiltskin gave a cautious nod to each statement.

She pulled herself up to scream in his face. "So why the hell didn't you get rid of me, if that was what kept Bae away?"

He gave a blink at her question, needing a moment to understand that Lacey was in earnest. How could she not know the answer already? "Sweetheart," he said slowly, grabbing onto her shoulders when she would have pulled away at the sound of the endearment, "I never even considered that."

Her eyes were filled with suspicion. "Never?"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head.

"But you love him."

Telling her that he loved her had not helped him in the past - he actually suspected it had been the drive behind her departure - so he stuck with other facts: "And I've apologized and made amends for all my mistakes." He dared a quick kiss on her forehead. "You, my dear, are _not_ a mistake."

Her body tensed, and the laugh that left her was disbelieving. "You don't mean that."

Rumpelstiltskin threw caution to the wind. Lacey was here, back under his roof, and if her visit lasted only a few minutes, he wanted her to be sure that she was important to him. Belle had always chosen to face the truth upfront, and too many times he had hidden it from her. Perhaps he could make amends to the girl she'd been, by being honest with this version of her.

“I’m in love with you,” he told her.

Lacey shook her head. "You _can't_ mean that. Not seriously."

"Is it so bad, Lace?"

"No," she said, her voice so thin he almost didn't catch it. "But it's too good to be real."

He felt an unfamiliar emotion creep into his thoughts. A moment's consideration helped him recognize it as hope. "Don't you believe me, Lacey?" His hands moved to hold hers, brought them to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. He had wasted so much time, and even if he didn't regret one moment spent trying to bring Belle back, he would try to make it up to her. "Please, _please_ believe me," he asked, threading his arms around her.

Lacey didn't answer.

But neither did she step away from his embrace.

 

The End  
15/02/17


End file.
